Need Inventory? 20 Superfast Ways to Get Listings

Jimmy Burgess, chief growth officer for Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Beach Properties of Florida, in Santa Rosa Beach, wanted to build on the relationships he already made hoping that some of these homeowners would want to list their homes. So, he decided to send unsolicited comparative market analyses (CMAs) to those property owners. But he took it one step further. Burgess pulled up each home in Google Earth, recorded his screen, and recorded himself showing and discussing each comparable property. His personalized approach and delivery got him immediate results.

Burgess used BombBomb video software to send out two to three of these CMAs daily. He was able to see who watched the video, opening the door for follow-up opportunities. Then, he sent out a personalized letter, called the property owner, or he knocked on their door. A unique approach to CMAs is all it took to fill this gap and win more listings.

If you’ve ever felt stalled trying to generate more listings, sometimes all it takes is layering in some fresh strategies on top of what you’re already doing. Here are 19 more creative ways to get listings to meet buyer demand.

1. What’s your plan?

Did you know that the agent who has the last touch with a homeowner who’s ready to sell has a significantly higher chance of winning that business than the most-known agent? Executing the right message at the right time strategy is simple.

In your database of past clients and seller leads, how many want to sell in the next 90 days? Six months? 12 months? Once you gather that information, you can add your sellers to the right follow-up marketing strategy based on that timeline. Constant communication gives you better odds that you’ll be the last agent to make contact when a homeowner is ready to sell.

2. It’s been too long

It’s common to lose touch with past clients, even for the most disciplined and organized teams. Dunbar’s Number states that we can only really maintain 150 stable relationships at any given moment. The goal of this strategy is to re-engage with 25 past clients with whom you’ve lost connection. Here are two ways you can do that: Check out your client’s recent activity on LinkedIn, Facebook or Instagram. Then, use that information as a catalyst for connection. Include a reason for reaching out, and a reason for following up with her in the future. After you send an email, put a reminder in your calendar to contact your client again and send something of value to re-establish the relationship.

PRO TIP: Build your social lists to include hot leads and past clients. Every time you hop on Instagram, Facebook or LinkedIn, make a conscious effort to connect with the people that matter most to your business.

If you don’t follow your client on social media, or if they don’t use social, you can send a similar email or text that’s a bit more generic with the same essence. While 87% of consumers say they’d hire their real estate agent again, only 12%–14% do, according to a study by Properties Online Inc. Let’s fix that by re-engaging the people who matter most: your past clients who already know, like and trust you.

3. Branded YouTube pre-roll ads

By 2022, 82% of all internet traffic will be video. It’s no surprise then that 90% of consumers say they’ve discovered new products and brands on YouTube, according to a study by Cisco Systems. YouTube pre-roll ads are video advertisements that play before a video. These ads are practical to help increase brand awareness, build your influence and generate sales. If you have a YouTube channel, you can create an ad set that targets the people in the area you want to reach. Typically, these ads are only 15–30 seconds long, but they can be up to two minutes. This strategy is extremely effective in establishing your brand as a local authority so when a buyer or seller needs to find an agent, you’re the first one that comes to mind.

4. Facebook Live neighborhood farming

Are one-minute videos more your thing? Hop on Facebook Live once a month and give people in your neighborhood farm a rundown of the notable sales in the past 30 days. Then, offer a free home valuation, and tell your viewers how they can contact you. Stephanie Cole, team leader of Cole Team Real Estate with Compass in Alpharetta, Georgia, has used this marketing strategy with great success. Be sure to boost the video to make sure you reach the right people in your target area.

5. Magic buyer letter 2.0

Direct mail isn’t as quick as sending an email, and it’s not as easy. But if you have a few frustrated buyers who can’t find a home on the market, creating a Magic Buyer Letter 2.0 is worth it. That’s the strategy Amy Youngren, team leader with Urban Lifestlye Group in Toronto, uses.

This marketing technique is simple. Write a letter to homeowners who live in the neighborhoods where your buyers want to live. Be specific in describing what your buyers are looking for. Encourage these homeowners to contact you if they’re interested in selling. Make sure you are following Fair Housing Act laws, and do not give details about the potential buyers that may violate those laws.

Going the extra mile to help your buyers find a home in a seller’s market is a surefire way to get more referrals and repeat business. You could even use this strategy as part of your Unique Selling Proposition (USP) in a listing presentation to prove how hard you work for your buyers.

6. Home value ads 2.0

If you want to generate quality seller leads, you need to take these ads to the next level. You can do this by using hyperlocal photography, putting yourself in the ad and using relevant market data to engage your audience.

Jordan Rossman, team leader for The Rossman Team in Ontario, does this and finds that he gets more inbound leads from people who are ready to list immediately.

7. Research tools

The big idea here is to use data to create better content for your customers. Florida Realtors®, Redfin, Realtor.com, Zillow and other companies put out incredible research data, such as housing market demographics and more, that can help inform your customers so they can make better decisions. The key is to take the data you find, analyze it and make it relevant to the consumer. The reality is that consumers have access to more information than ever before, but they’re also frustrated, confused and overwhelmed. It’s your job to interpret the data and communicate it in a clear way so they can make the best decision for their unique situation.

8. Empower the consumer

The future of real estate is providing consumers the information they need so they can make better decisions. Empowering the consumer to choose the option that makes sense for them is exactly what Gretchen Coley, with The Coley Group, Gretchen Coley Properties in Raleigh, North Carolina, does by presenting seller-centric programs on her homepage.

“How much is your fee?” and “How much do you think I can sell my home for?” are loaded questions for any real estate agent. By presenting different seller strategies and breaking down each option, Coley is disarming her competition, building a transparent connection with the consumer and giving them the choice to make.

9. Prepare a 'zactimate'

When we saw the former CEO of Zillow sold his personal home for 40% less than the Zillow estimate, we created an email campaign to tap into it.

Since the article is a few years old, you might want to reference a more recent article, like how “Spencer Rascoff paid $1M above Zestimate for his LA home.” The strategic angle here is, “If Zillow can’t get it right for their own CEO’s home, they might not get it right for yours.”

Give your leads better data and accurate information by offering to prepare a “Zactimate” for them.

10. Market Your Buyers

If you want to stand out from how most agents market their success, put the spotlight on your buyers. Better yet, use storytelling in your emails or direct mail to humanize your brand and generate more leads.

Send these emails to your database, highlighting some of the things your buyer-clients are looking for, such as price range of a home, number of bedrooms, proximity to certain businesses and more. Again, be sure to avoid violating fair housing laws in these emails and direct mail letters.

11. Go all-in on Google

If all your reviews are on Zillow, start investing in your Google profile and gather your reviews there. It’s essential to make requesting reviews from your clients part of your workflow and sales process.

If a prospect searches your name on Google and only sees one review, it may hurt your brand. Invest in building up your Google presence by getting more reviews, completing your local profile and updating your photos, videos, hours of operation, address and phone number.

If you want to take it a step further, Google Local Service Ads should also be part of your marketing strategy. These are local ads that show up at the top of search results when a consumer uses Google and searches for “real estate agents” in your area.

12. Real estate masterclass

Present potential sellers in your area with a strategy they probably haven’t seen before: live masterclasses.

Dani Fleming, principal of MA Properties Online and team leader at MA Properties Real Estate in Lexington, Massachusetts, and her team offer masterclasses 11 months per year, target two different locations and mail out monthly postcards with the class information. It establishes the team’s credibility, expertise and reputation as the go-to resource for real estate. After a few years of refining this strategy, Fleming estimates that 75%-80% of their sellers have been to a seller’s masterclass at some point.

This strategy is an investment that requires commitment and consistency, but if you do the work, the return on investment (ROI) outweighs the cost.

13. Address a common concern

A lot of sellers are concerned about whether they’ll find a home to buy if they sell theirs. If you know sellers who are feeling stressed about their options, why not bring these conversations to the surface. Connie Carlson, founding partner of Ansley Real Estate Cobb in Atlanta, did this in an email she sent along with a video that addressed the seller’s concern, bridged the gap with empathy and built the connection. See the graphic above for how she did it.

You could address the concern in an email, blog post, social media post or in a video. Whatever form you take, the bottom line is the same: People value an honest agent.

Join the conversation that’s already going on in the seller’s head and bring them clarity, perspective and direction.

14. Answer the public

The website answerthepublic.com is a resource that could be the foundation for your content strategy. It helps you find questions that consumers are typing into Google and then visualizes it so you understand the specific content marketing angles you can use.

For example, if you were to type “Selling my home” into the search bar, you’d get a list of all the different questions that consumers are asking Google and other search engines about the process of selling their home.

Use this resource to gain inspiration and guide your content plan so that you can create better content.

15. Build a content calendar

Think of this strategy as taking all the previous strategies and putting them into a plan. Most real estate agents and teams can’t hire a full-time social media strategist. But, the ability to put out consistent content doesn’t just happen.

Creating a monthly content calendar helps you stay consistent and gives you a space to be creative and thoughtfully plan out how you want to show up on your social media channels. What do your customers want to learn from you? What are the outcomes they want to achieve? Your answers to these questions will enhance the content you put out.

16. Short-form education

While there’s a place for repurposing content, with short-form video (Instagram Reels, Instagram or Facebook Stories, TikTok), you need to shoot for the medium. That means every second of your 30-second clip should have a clear purpose with a specific message.

Actionable content and practical advice are what your audience wants.

17. Facebook fishing

Use Facebook Messenger to initiate a conversation with past clients or leads. Ask permission to give them a call or pick their brain about a project you’re working on. This level of personalized interaction generates dozens of immediate conversations, even more than email.

Facebook has limits in place, so if you’re sending too many messages or sending them too quickly, Messenger will let you know and temporarily disable your account. Send these personalized messages once a month, or every other month to generate more replies and conversations.

18. Revamp your retargeting

Customers who see retargeted ads are 70% more likely to convert on your website in the future. Essentially, retargeting is a marketing strategy that serves relevant ads to people who have already visited your website. Actively using retargeting ads offers a huge opportunity that most real estate agents aren’t utilizing to maximize their marketing efforts. When they do, most agents only focus on listings.

Instead of ads about your listings, build ads that focus on you and the services you provide. Highlight your USP with examples of your services or your happy customers. Put these ads in front of people who have already visited your website to position yourself as the local expert and win more listings.   

19. Launch Your listings

In a low-inventory market, agents tend to under market their listings because homes are selling so quickly. The problem here is mindset. If you perceive marketing your listings as a cost, you will always try to minimize the expense. But if you treat marketing your listings as an investment, you will look to try to maximize your return.

Smart agents understand that how you promote your listings is an audition for future sellers. Your next customer will see how you market and advertise your current listings and say, “I want that for my house!” This is how you attract business, so you don’t have to chase it.

Whew, 20 different lead generation strategies can feel overwhelming. Where do you start?

First, pay attention to which strategies resonate strongest with you. You probably have a natural inclination toward either video or writing, Instagram Reels or email. Let that be your guide.

Second, be willing to go through this list and cross off the strategies you know you’ll never do. Don’t be afraid to get rid of some ideas. Focus on what matters to you and your business.

Finally, give yourself time to get it right. You won’t nail these listing strategies the first time around, and that’s OK. Develop a realistic plan with your team that allows you to layer in these strategies one at a time. It’s a smart move and one that will get you the best results. #

Jimmy Mackin is the CEO and co-founder of Curaytor, a digital marketing company based in Massachusetts.